Chad Dawson: Jean Pascal Will 'Bring the Best Out of Me'

LAS VEGAS -- High atop the 61st floor of Mandalay Bay's prestigious TheHotel, WBC interim light heavyweight (175 pounds) titlist "Bad" Chad Dawson sat in a luxurious suite at one end of a long table as he fielded questions from a small group of reporters concerning Saturday night's clash with WBC champ Jean Pascal.

At the other end of the table was his trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, a former light heavyweight world champion who competed in several storied ring wars through the late 1970s and early 80s.

There were Mustafa's battles with Bennie Briscoe, Michael Spinks, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Marvin Johnson, Jerry Martin, Victor Galindez and even a trip to a prison to New Jersey's Rahway State Prison to face convict James Scott.

Asked if the 28-year-old Dawson could compete with those warriors, Muhammad said, "I think that you could put him in that category."

"Chad is a pure boxer. But he's got deceptive power. When he gets that leverage, that turns into pure power," said Muhammad. "I hold the pads for him, and I feel that power. You know, when he feints the jab and turns it into a hook, you hear the pads go 'Pow.' And everybody's like, 'What was that?' See what I'm saying?" said Muhammad.

"That's the stuff that I like. What we do is we build on it. That snap off of the punch and then bringing a punch right back. So whatever he brings to the table, I elevate that. It's a good relationship. I have a ball just being in the gym with him and just seeing what he brings to the table. In every training camp, it's something new."

Dawson (29-0, 17 knockouts) is hoping to put those talents on display in the HBO-televised main event with the 27-year-old Pascal (25-1, 16 KOs), whom he will meet before Pascal's local fans at Bell Centre, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

"I'm excited. I mean, it's going to be a big crowd," Dawson said. "Everybody's been waiting for it. Everybody over there is in anticipation of it. I've been training really hard this camp. Pascal, we know that he's a good fighter. But, I mean, we're going to put it on him.

"I've seen Pascal and watched a few clips on him. I don't see anything. He's not going to be able to get past my jab. We've been working on that really hard in this camp. It's going to be the key to victory. Jean Pascal is not going to be able to get past my jab. Mark my words on that."

Dawson hopes that a signature performance will lead to bigger and better things for him, including potential matchups with IBF super middleweight (168 pounds) king Lucian Bute (26-0, 21 KOs), WBA super middleweight titlist Andre Ward (21-0, 13 KOs), IBF light heavyweight champ Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18 KOs) or even aging ex-world champion Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs).

"Everybody is waiting and itching for me to make that standout performance, and this is going to be that standout performance. I've been with Eddie for about five fights now, and every camp there's always something new. Every camp I think that I show him something different," said Dawson.

"But it's all about putting all of that stuff in one package for one big fight, and I think that this will be that one big fight. I think that this will be the fight that will show people that I'm the best light heavyweight in the world. I think that this will show that I'm one of the top fighters of this era. I think that this is going to make my career for the next three or for years."

Will Dawson go for the knockout against Pascal? Not necessarily.

"Floyd [Mayweather] is a pure boxer. You've seen him. He doesn't take many risks. You don't see Floyd throwing a hundred thousand punches and trying to get the guy out of there. He takes his time and he boxes and that's what I do. Usually the guys that look for knockouts become the victim of a knockout, and that's not me," said Dawson.

"You know, I look to use my brain, pick my guys apart, go to the body and go to the head," said Dawson. "One round you might see me throw all body shots and keep going to the head. The next round, I might go to the head. I just like to keep it different. If the fans don't like it, then the fans don't like it but, you know, I'm still undefeated."

Dawson remains the only man to have beaten Tomasz Adamek, doing so by getting off of the canvas to score a unanimous decision in February 2007. A Polish-born former light heavyweight and cruiserweight (200 pounds) champion, Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) will go after his 11th consecutive victory and only his fourth as a heavyweight when he takes on Chicago-born former world title contender Michael Grant.

"That's [Adamek] just another example of me rising to the occasion. At the time, people thought that my promoter, Gary Shaw, was crazy to put me in with him at that period. But, he asked me if I wanted that fight, and I said, 'Yeah, I want this fight.' It was my first world title shot. I took it, and I ran with it. That [Adamek] was one of my best performances, and this fight right here against Pascal is going to be another one of my great performances," said Dawson.

"I mean, if Adamek said that he wanted to fight me tomorrow at heavyweight, I'd blow up, because I know what it takes to beat Adamek. I did it once, and I can do it again Or I would definitely fight [WBA heavyweight champ] David Haye. But right now, I've got to focus on this light heavyweight division and clean this light heavyweight division up," said Dawson. "You've got Tavoris Cloud coming up, and he's right on my coat tail. I think that that would be a great fight for boxing too because he's aggressive, and I'm boxer. I think that plays right into my hands too."

Pascal is returning to the site where he made the successful second defense of his title in December in a unanimous decision over fellow Canadian Adrian Diaconu. It was the fourth straight victory for the Haitian-born Pascal, whose only loss was by unanimous decision against England's Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) in their December 2008 matchup for the vacant WBC super middleweight (168 pounds) title.

"You look at the fact that Pascal hasn't fought anybody. I mean, he lost to Carl Froch, and Carl Froch is not Superman. So I don't see anything that he has to bring to the table that is going to take me off of my gameplan. We're going to beat him, and I'm going to beat him clearly and decisively, and I'm not worried about the judges," said Dawson. "I love for guys to be aggressive and come forward, and I think that that's what Pascal's going to do. He thinks I'm going to sit back and box all night. But nah. It's going to be a tough night for him."

Despite having suffered an injury to his right shoulder against the 31-year-old Diaconu (26-2, 15 KOs), Pascal won 117-111 on two cards and 118-110 on the third. The injury required surgery to repair it a couple days after the fight, which has pushed back the date of the defense against Dawson (29-0, 17 KOs) three times.

Pascal-Diaconu was a rematch of their clash in June 2009, when Pascal dethroned Diaconu for the crown, 115-112, 116-112 and 116-111.

Dawson said that Pascal will be on the other end of a similar decision on Saturday night.

"The way that I'm going to beat Pascal, it's going to be clearly and decisively. Trust me, honestly, the way that I'm prepared for this fight, I don't see this fight going the distance. I'm telling you that I'm going to beat him with the jab all night. He's not going to be able to get past the jab," said Dawson.

"Everybody says how athletic he is and this and that, but like my trainer said to me the other day, 'you've got to show everybody that you're athletic and that you have boxing skills,'" said Dawson. "That's one thing that Pascal doesn't have. I've got boxing skills and my athleticism. I've seen the athleticism that he has, but it's nothing compared to what I'm going to put on him."

Dawson received an ego boost recently from unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, who said that he considered the New Haven, Conn., resident one of the sport's top 10 fighters pound-for-pound.

"It still sits in the back of my head when he said it," Dawson said. "I remember when he said it, after my first Antonio Tarver fight. I went home and I kept rewinding it. I kept rewinding it. All of my friends came over, and I kept rewinding it. That definitely gave me a boost and it still plays in my head now and every time I think about it.

"When I go over for this fight, it's going to play in the back of my head that I'm one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. And it's all about me going out there and showing everybody that I am worthy of being on that list. I definitely believe that I'll have a better performance. I mean, I'll have another young lion in front of me, and I think that he's going to bring the best out of me."